Listen folks - some of you are being really unfair and insulting to Tara - he's a perfectly good drummer and deserves to be on the BF tour ! Why don't you check out his drumming style with his own band, Rubber Kiss Goodbye (with Ollie Thompson) which is where I first heard his playing ? http://www.rubberkissgoodbye.com/home

Robert.

Yes, Robert, I very much agree with you. I found the shows in oslo and Paris excellent and Tara was doing his job well. That he is not enjoying being on stage with his father is nonsense; probably he`s having the best time in his life.
Look forward to hear Reason or Rhyme in the autumn! Magnus

I think this discussion about Tara smells very bad! I saw him both I Glasgow with Roxy and in Stockholm with Ferry. He played more second drums in Glasgow, but he was very impressive in Stockholm where he had an equal role to Newmark. I think Tara is an excellent drummer, and if I was his father I would be very proud. I met him very briefly backstage in Stockholm, and he seemed to be a very nice guy. He even helped the staff to carry the drinks to the backstage crowd.
The problem with this discussion is that some people criticize everything Bryan Ferry does nowadays, and it´s really very boring to read. Some of you need to stop complaining and get a life! I don´t agree to everything Ferry does, especially not Dylanesque, but I think it´s a great privilege to be able to still follow my greatest musical hero after more than 40 years on stage. Even if I don´t think a song like f I You can Dance is among his top five song, I think it´s astonishing that a man who´s 65+ still can create such a modern sound. If I was a fan to any of his contemporary artists I would be filled with envy. Can you name one other artist at his age that still can deliver like Ferry does? (Apart from John Cale, of course!)
Let´s give both Tara and Bryan the credit they deserve! And I do believe that most of us think that both are doing a very good job!
/Peter

I have been feeling low about this and hoping that it was a spoof ever since I read Tara's posting. I have been kicking myself that I didn't stick up for him long before he felt the need to do so himself. From some of the responses above it looks like many of us feel the same way.

Anything more that I might have wanted to say would have a hollow feel to it now - so it's best to leave it at that.

Agreed, Robert. Mind you, I'm not a musician and cannot attest to Tara's drumming abilities (although his work with RKG, along with the recent tour clips on YouTube, is impressive to me); however, it's quite unfair to question his passion based entirely on "circumstantial evidence" (chewing gum, sulky face etc.)

As Tara said, his father has access to the finest musicians in the world, and Bryan (the perfectionist we all know him to be) chose Tara to work on Olympia and serve as the percussionist on his tours.

As Quicksilver baby said, "Viva Tara!" I hope to see him back on the forums soon - maybe to share some "insider knowledge."

Wow ! Did I set the cat amongst the pigeons ? ! Firstly I did NOT criticise Bryan at all and think he is awesome at 65 and doesn't look or act it. Re: Tara's drumming - thanks for the response Tara. I have no objection to there being two percussionists if one played the kit and the other played percussion, like Paul and Julia who complemented each other excellently. Tara could add a different tone colour and timbre to the music by playing other percussion instruments such as the tambourine, glock, vibes, marimba, congas, etc. etc. ad infinitum. Think of Ray Cooper- an absolute legend. This is why I said I enjoyed Tara playing the tubular bell in Bitter Sweet becauce it added a completely different nuance to the music, instead of just doubling up on the kit. Hope this makes sense !

For what it's worth, I thought what you wrote was a fair unbiased opinion of what you heard, unswayed by who the percussionist was.

Thanks Bill - you are absolutely right. It didn't matter if it was Tara or Joe Bloggs behind the 2nd drum kit, I personally thought it was unnecessary. It would have been far better to have had a percussionist as Bryan used to have on his solo tours years ago.

I saw Roxy on the Manifesto tour in 1979. Just listen to Manchester 1979. The sound was really weak and was crying out for an extra guitar at least. So , I can see the need for more hands on stage sometimes. Unfortunately, any relationship to the boss in any job leaves you wide open to criticism regardless of how talented you are. Would Linda or Yoko have been in the band if they weren't related to the guvnor ? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm no musician, so can't pass comment on who's good and who's bad. To be fair to Tara, I think whoever got the 2nd drummer role was going to be slagged off, regardless of how good he or she is. Just take it on the chin, canny lad !The noise coming from the stage sounds good !

Soft rain of cushions at Lyon. DVD due for release in the autumn.

Back from the roman theatre of Fourvières, located on top of a hill dominating the capital of French gastronomy . Panoramic view of Lyon and the Rhône valley. Great venue and perfect gig.
There was almost no British fans for once.

Keren-Ann and her band took the stage at 9 pm as an appetizer. The first part of the show was itself a gig (it lasted one hour) and, most importantly, their performance reached a fairly good level. It reminded me of Chryssie Hynde and the Pretenders in their heyday .

The main course came in at night-time, around 10.30. Chris Spedding has been replaced by Neil Hubbard on guitar. That gave a more unexpected taste to the dressing. A third track from the new album was performed -Reason or Rhyme - in addition to You Can Dance and Alphaville. The set list also included vocally demanding pieces as If There Is Something, or more risky wines as Sign of the Times. As far as I am concerned, I find the most renowned ones boring. Avalon, Love Is The Drug et Slave To Love were impeccably served at the table however.

The man was in great shape, relaxed and at ease with the audience he addressed with more than four words, about the setlist. His voice was stronger and rejuvenated compared to the concert at the Paris Olympia (what a magical venue!) in June . His compelling rendition of Make You Feel My Love blew away the crowd. He added his so distinctive touch to the mixture playing keyboards more than usual. Three stars in the Red Guide were given to Jorja Chalmers, whose performance on sax was warmly acclaimed. To be honest, I must say that Tara on drums take his part in the cooking. He was the main player for the tracks of the new album and did the job reasonably well.
To put it briefly: a first rate gig. Let’s Stick Together – meaning ‘The End –roused a rain of cushions the crowd were throwing in the air and on the stage. Ferry and the band were clearly surprised by this reaction and came back on stage for an “encore”. So we’ve got dessert twice

The show has been entirely captured. It was announced by the City of Lyon’s reviewer that a DVD is due for release in the autumn
More information on : http://www.mlyon.fr/52702-fourviere-sla ... ferry.html